Current email system annoying, inefficient
There is nothing quite as obnoxious as receiving five emails at 3 a.m. urging students to evaluate their professors. What the university fails to understand is that students are bombarded with assignments as well as expectations to pour in countless hours in the library to study for finals. Meanwhile, they are pestered to complete these evaluations as well.
The evaluations that students do take the time to fill out are the ones that berate professors they hate. However, nothing that I have seen makes it apparent that there has been action taken against said professors. Instead, these professors turn up year after year, continuing to lash out with their most gruesome tactics. The evaluations that are forced upon students in class are answered with a sea of all “5’s” and a gaggle of blank responses to the open-ended questions so that the student may leave the class sooner.
If the evaluations were not shoved down students’ throats, they would serve their intended purpose. The biggest change that would encourage more students to take the time to fill out the evaluation would be making sure the timing didn’t interfere with the last few weeks’ workload. Placing course evaluations at the very end of the year, or even handing them out at the end of each exam would make students less likely to feel apathetic toward yet another “assignment” that they are required to complete. Instead of assailing students with emails, a friendly reminder at the end of class would allow students to feel less irked and give professors a more accurate understanding of their strengths and weaknesses.